An Exhortation to Praise God Continually
Explanation of the Psalm
1 Now that you have been delivered from all temptations and persecutions, it is time for you to give your whole thoughts to praising God; and, therefore, “bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord,” who now have nothing else to do, but to render him the tribute of everlasting praise and thanks. “Who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God;” you, who have now a permanent house, and no longer, like pilgrims, have to dwell in tents. And, in addition to the house you have, is “a court,” so that you cannot but be supremely happy, having a house within, in which to behold God, and a court without, in which to behold his creatures.
2 The night, when silence prevails everywhere, is the fittest time for prayer, and for praising God. Hence David, in another Psalm, says, “I rose at midnight to give praise to thee;” and, Isaias says, “My soul hath desired thee in the night;” and in Lamentations, “Arise and give praise in the night, in the beginning of the watches.” Our Lord constantly spent the night in prayer; and, in Acts 16, we read, “And at midnight, Paul and Silas, praying, praised God.” It is, therefore, with great justice that the prophet reminds God’s servants that it is at night especially that they should raise their hands towards the Holy of Holies, where the Ark and the Propitiatory lie, and bless God. In a moral sense, the verse means that we should bless God in the daylight of prosperity, as well as in the night and gloom of adversity. However, in the sense that was principally intended, we are given to understand here, that, as when there is question of light or darkness, it is always day in the country above, so it is always night there when there is question of labor or rest; for, the moment they enter into said rest, “the Spirit tells them they may rest from their labors; for their works follow them,” Apoc. 14. That is, the night alluded to in Psalm 138, “And night shall be my light in my pleasures;” and of which the Lord says, “The night cometh in which no one can work;” and, therefore, should be specially devoted to praising God. In those most quiet, but still most brilliant nights, therefore, “lift up your hands,” you happy servants of God; and turned towards the true sanctuary where God himself resides, “Bless ye the Lord.”
3 Having exhorted the holy servants of God to bless him, he now calls down a blessing from God on them, in the singular number, knowing them to be so united in charity as if they consisted of one person only; to which unity of persons he says, “May the Lord out of Sion bless thee, he that made heaven and earth.”